Rob Ford's Toronto

[Gavin]

phew.

My thoughts exactly.

This was sent to me by PM from another member:

Fuuuuuuuck - it's a bit nuts isn't it?

[...]

Do you happen to know any of the mods/administrators? I feel like he needs to be properly addressed.

Not trying to gang up on you, but it's obvious that your posting style (to be kind) is annoying more than a few people. You've been a member here for two weeks and have only ever posted in this thread, so it's obvious that you heard about the forum elsewhere and you're just dumping (sometimes months old) content from elsewhere with no context or thought of your own. Just fucking stop.

 

[Gavin]

also there are people who post here who know things, who are genuine insiders. they post here for a reason. the level you're operating at isn't adding anything, and may even discourage real information from emerging.

This.

 

[guitarchitect]

i do edit.

Ha! Yeah, OK. But not nearly enough! If you're posting a link to an article, you can say "here's an article/comment where the psoter talks about _______" and then give the link. not the entire article with one sentence taken out of it.

others have said they learn from what i post when quoting.

Yeah - one guy did (and he'll learn as much from reading the source material). 5 people have complained. You're getting into Rob Ford territory here...

saying skip it isn't lazy... it's how a forum is able to contain different people with different likes and different approaches.

OK - then it's inconsiderate. People are asking you to stop posting walls of text because they are hard to skip/ignore. Especially with the volume that you're posting.

if i'm continuing a thought that i started, you will see me quote myself.

The point of the "edit" button is to continue a thought that you started. Find a link shortly after you made a post? Use the edit button. Want to continue a thought you started with more info? Use the edit button. Made a post in the morning and want to make a different one two hours later? Yeah, sure, use the reply button.

phew.

Indeed.

 

[evvabeing]

"lots gets posted on here that i don't care about..."

yeah, but you only just started posting, and you're posting like 80 times a day on the thread. i skip lots of things too, but the sheer amount of copied material you are posting is REALLY clogging up the discussion. also, we all have google, we all have the internet. we know how to do research. we're not on here to play cub reporter, or 'uncover the mystery of Rob Ford's crime'. in other words, this isn't 'Cold Case'. also there are people who post here who know things, who are genuine insiders. they post here for a reason. the level you're operating at isn't adding anything, and may even discourage real information from emerging.

i heard you can block people on here, right? so why not just have my posts not show up on the thread you see?

 

[evvabeing]

Ha! Yeah, OK. But not nearly enough! If you're posting a link to an article, you can say "here's an article/comment where the psoter talks about _______" and then give the link. not the entire article with one sentence taken out of it.



Yeah - one guy did (and he'll learn as much from reading the source material). 5 people have complained. You're getting into Rob Ford territory here...


OK - then it's inconsiderate. People are asking you to stop posting walls of text because they are hard to skip/ignore. Especially with the volume that you're posting.


The point of the "edit" button is to continue a thought that you started. Find a link shortly after you made a post? Use the edit button. Want to continue a thought you started with more info? Use the edit button. Made a post in the morning and want to make a different one two hours later? Yeah, sure, use the reply button.


Indeed.

i hope you don't block me though. i enjoy a lot of your posts... and i've seen you get something from at least some of mine.

 

[guitarchitect]

i heard you can block people on here, right? so why not just have my posts not show up on the thread you see?

"Block me if you don't like me!" is also a shitty, inconsiderate thing to say. Believe it or not, this is actually a community where people want to discuss things with each other. Nobody actually wants to block other users unless those users are trolls or assholes - you don't seem to be either, as you actually seem to want to discuss the topic at hand and haven't been levelling other users with ad hominem attacks. So to just go around saying "Wheeeee I'mma post how I like, block it if you don't like it, I can do what I want!" is a bit of a downer, and makes it seem like you don't give a shit about the community - you just care about doing what you want, on your own terms.

It isn't in ANYONE'S interest to block you, but if they do, YOU will be the one missing out - lots of people bring valuable insight/information into the forum, and I don't think you want to end up in your own self-constructed echo chamber where people have discussions all around you, but no one can see what you're saying. You won't end up being a part of the discussion.

 

[guitarchitect]

evvabeing: for your benefit, here's how you'd make this post using reasonably good forum etiquette. That is - not adding a snarky line in the "reason for editing" section, and summarizing rather than copy/pasting (I'm including only the bold part in my summary since you deemed that the important part)

"Wow, did you guys see this? Back in June, someone posted in a Toronto Mike comment thread that Robyn Doolittle said the crack video is part of a "larger story", and that lots will be unfolding in the future."

Put them next to each other and compare - can you see how that's better than a wall of text? Especially if I'm making ten of those posts in a row?

 

[animatronic]

i add my own thoughts when necessary, but i don't mind considering the thoughts of others (yes, even on other blogs and yes, unparaphrased) and i share them here for others to consider too.

Oh, don't get your panties in a knot. You're 90% there - just try to:
1. Re-post links + just the relevant line instead of large blocks of text. That keeps the clutter down and helps people follow your logic
2. Add context to what you are posting, i.e., tell us why we should care about a forum post from a few months ago. There's value in using current info to explain comments/reporting/innuendo from the past. Connecting the dots on the friend-of-the-Basso-daughter post is a good example.
3. If you are trying to make a point, combine all of your thoughts into one post. Lead with your insight/hypothesis and then follow it with the evidence
4. Don't get into a pissing match with anyone who thinks they are special because they've got a low UID. It's just an internet forum, dammit

 

[TOvp]

Thank you, animatronic. Your pointers are great for newbies, UT fixtures and those in between.

evvabeing, your willingness to research is welcome. Entering an established group and telling valued contributors to ignore you is not.

I'm quite new to UT and made a point to read this thread for a few days before posting to get a feel for the community.

Key word: community.

The links you post might be of interest to some, but the odds of four month old article not having been discussed here is highly unlikely.

What I'd love to see would be a master list of interesting links you find. One great, big list instead of one per post.

That would be a good contribution that would earn kudos.

 

[TOvp]

evvabeing, that's progress.

Just edit out the chunks of text that are not in bold.

Especially for those scrolling on phones, it really does clutter.

People come to UT to find out what other posters have to say, moreso than to read blocks of already published info.

 

[evvabeing]

what's supposed to happen if someone violates the city of toronto act?

Section 134(c) of the City of Toronto Act makes it clear: one of the mayor’s key responsibilities is to “act as the representative of the City both within and outside the City.” I’m no lawyer, but to me that probably means the mayor is expected to maintain some decorum when out in public — that at the very least he should be expected to hold it together at fundraising events he’s attending in an official capacity.

http://metronews.ca/voices/ford-for...on-to-care-about-how-much-rob-ford-may-drink/

would a private citizen have to once again take ford to court?

 

[downradio]

I

what's supposed to happen if someone violates the city of toronto act?

http://metronews.ca/voices/ford-for...on-to-care-about-how-much-rob-ford-may-drink/

would a private citizen have to once again take ford to court?

I have to call bullshit on this. It would have been OK if the mayor hadn't been viewed on video smoking crack by what by now must be a quite a few people (when will our turn finally come?). It may also have been an accurate article had the mayor not been outted as hanging out with criminals, thugs and drug dealers. I can't imagine how people are OK with this and I'm not sure why Elliott overlooked it in his article. Of course we should look at what he does outside of office. It advises us as to his ethics in office. In public life, particularly political life, there is little separation. One may say something like "you can't have your cake and eat it too", but looking at Rob Ford...

Anywho...I live in Hong Kong and travel a around Asia for work a fair bit. As a Torontonian, I have to say that a once respected city is getting laughed at every where I go. This sucks. Toronto doesn't deserve it. Besides the bruised ego, I have to imagine it impacts Toronto's image and hence its competitiveness versus other North American cities. Only a socio-path would continue to cling to power given these circumstances. Fuck Rob Ford. </end rant>

 

[adma]

I think I've said this before, but if the Fords and the police are truly in politically-savvy competent cahoots in "burying evidence", then the Fords would have been front and centre and in authority re Project Traveller, Dubyah "We got him!" style...

 

[cassius]

Anywho...I live in Hong Kong and travel a around Asia for work a fair bit. As a Torontonian, I have to say that a once respected city is getting laughed at every where I go. This sucks.

On this subject, I was in Tokyo for a few weeks up until last. There was an Australian at the hotel that my girlfriend and I had drinks with one night. He didn't know Rob Ford by name or anything, but when I mentioned the crack scandal he perked up and said that he had heard about it. The impression that I got was that he hadn't put too much thought into it, as expected. But considering he was the only individual we engaged in any real conversation with in Japan, and though it's completely anecdotal, it makes me think just how many people around the world are at least aware of our scandalous mayor.

On a separate note, I'm also finding evvabeing's posts to be rather... 'long and low on useful substance' is the way I'll put it. That said, his/her most recent posting was a little bit better.

 

[downradio]

...and though it's completely anecdotal, it makes me think just how many people around the world are at least aware of our scandalous mayor..

Your experience may have been anecdotal, but I can assure you it's fairly indicative of what I come across. You're right in that most don't recall Ford's name, but the story's been on international news channels like CNN as well as on local news channels all over the world. I'm sure you've seen the Taiwanese animation (just in case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oqrUPkW77k). Anyway, my point is that a lot of people equate Toronto with this awful person and it will probably take a lot of time to undo this damage. After all, Toronto doesn't make it onto the international news very often. Hopefully the next time, will be Fordo being led away in cuffs.